| Allen Park, Mich.— The Detroit Lions selected TE James Mitchell (177th overall), LB Malcolm Rodriguez (188th overall), OLB James Houston (217th overall), and CB Chase Lucas (237th overall) on Day 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft.Mitchell, Houston, and Lucas were made available to the media via Zoom.Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes was made available to media in Allen Park following the conclusion of Day 3 of the NFL Draft. The following are quote sheets with excerpts from their media sessions. LIONS FIFTH-ROUND DRAFT SELECTION (177TH OVERALL) TE JAMES MITCHELL NFL DRAFT DAY 3 QUOTE SHEETOn where his recovery from ACL injury is right now: “Yeah, so I’m seven months out, seven months and some weeks. I’m pretty much back. I’m doing everything from running, cutting, running routes. I’m expected to be fully cleared by June at the latest. I’ll be ready to go by training camp. I’m excited.”On how he would describe his skillset at tight end: “I would say I’m just a very diverse player. At Virginia Tech I was used all over the field. I became a better blocker as the years went on at Tech, but I pride myself on being able to play all over the field. I’m happy to be able to continue to grow and learn behind a guy like T.J. Hockenson and just soak it all in.”On how much he is looking forward to learning from Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell who is a former tight end: “Just being able to learn from a coach like that, a guy who’s played the position and knows what it’s about, like I said with T.J. (Hockenson) too there, I’m just excited to be in that environment and learn and just soak it all in. I know they will continue to help me develop as a player and will get me where I want to be.”On the contact he had with the Lions during the pre-Draft process: “Actually, I talked with them a little bit at the Combine. Besides that, it was more they had talked with my agent about maybe getting something done after the Draft if I wasn’t selected. When they called me right there toward the end of Round 5 and said they were going to take me, I was pretty shocked. Very grateful and excited to go there and just get started.”On if he thinks the team calling his agent about a potential signing after the Draft was a smokescreen to draft him: “It might’ve been. If it was, it worked. But it doesn’t matter to me. I’m just blessed. I’m happy. I’m happy to be a part of the Lions.” On how he thinks his ACL injury impacted his draft stock: “I think it definitely did. People want to see how I’m going to be once I get back this season. I can’t control that. All I can control is how I handle this process now, how I go in and work. I played one and a half games this year and I got drafted. I’m in the NFL now—well, I got the Draft pick. I’m blessed and happy. I’m just ready.”On his interests away from football: “I’m from a very small town, so I don’t get into a whole lot as it is. I spend most of my time hanging out with my friends just kicking it with them and just hanging out. I like basketball. I’m a big basketball guy. When I was healthy, we would always play pick-up and things like that. Outside of that, I keep it simple. I spend a lot of my time with my friends, hanging out, going to eat, watching movies, TV, that sort of thing.”On how small his hometown is and the reaction from his friends and family: ”Small town, probably about 6-7,000 people, so not very many people at all. My graduating class in high school was like 168, 169. My phone’s blowing up right now. People in this area are just happy. We haven’t had a guy in my town specifically get drafted in a while, so the whole area is very excited. I’m excited as well.”On who the last player from his hometown to be drafted was: “I believe it was Julius Jones. Julius and Thomas were brothers, they both got drafted. But I believe Julius was younger, so he was probably the last one from my specific hometown to get drafted.”On if he knew former NFL RBs Julius and Thomas Jones growing up: “My dad knows their family. He coached them. He was a part of their staff when they were in high school. We’re close with their parents. I didn’t know them a whole lot because when they were in high school, I wasn’t born yet, and when they were in college, I was really young. I didn’t get to meet them. I’ve met them a couple times, but yeah, my dad knows them very well.” LIONS SIXTH-ROUND DRAFT SELECTION (217TH OVERALL) OLB JAMES HOUSTON NFL DRAFT DAY 3 QUOTE SHEETOn what it means to get an NFL opportunity as an HBCU player: “It’s an extreme blessing to be part of the Detroit organization. I’m just so happy that they chose me for the pick. Everything that happened last year and everything that happened in college, all of that’s out the window. I’m coming in to work hard and try to make this organization better.”On the origin of his nickname ‘Da Problem’: “So, my nickname’s ‘Da Problem.’ Back at Jackson State, some of the announcers, they just kind of came up with it. I was kind of wreaking havoc throughout my fourth game – I think I had about 10-to-11 sacks on the season, and they came up with ‘Da Problem.’ You know, ‘Houston, we have a problem.’”On if he likes his nickname: “Yes, sir, I love it. I love it.”On what he expects his role to be in the NFL: “Whatever role that Detroit thinks that I fit the best, then I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do my best. I’m going to sacrifice everything I need to sacrifice. Obviously, I’m going to play an important role in special teams, all four roles. I’m just going to come out there and I’m going to work my heart out. I’m not going to give up, and I can’t wait to get to Detroit.”On if he wishes to continue being a problem in Detroit: “Yes, sir.”On what interaction he had with the Lions and Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes before the Draft: “I actually didn’t have any contact with the Lions, but I’m glad they contacted me today. That’s all I can say about that.”On what made him want to leave Florida and go play for Deion Sanders at Jackson State: “Obviously, having Deion there was just a huge factor in me going there. Obviously, it being an HBCU, that also drew me there as well. My whole family, we come from HBCUs. Everybody from my immediate to my extended family has really been going to HBCUs. So, it was something I wanted to experience and it just kind of felt like the right time. I know me and Coach Prime, we all kind of had the same aspirations and same motivation to kind of kick this thing off, and I can’t be more excited that I’m his first prospect in the NFL and the first prospect in the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference).”On if he has a mentality to attack the football: “Yes, sir. My whole game is about making plays, so turnovers, sacks, just game-changing plays, that’s my whole game. So, obviously, I do focus a lot on making turnovers (and) hitting the ball out.”On how important it was to start at Jackson State last year: “That was huge. I didn’t really get that opportunity to do it at Florida. I kind of felt like I should have, and that’s why I left. It was just a great opportunity to be on that field out there with my brothers every snap and just trying to take over the game, trying to control the game. It was an opportunity I definitely needed I felt like in my career as an athlete just to kind of go out there and really show everything that I had, every play.”On if he talked to former Florida linebackers and current Lions linebackers Alex Anzalone or Jarrad Davis during his recruitment to Florida: “No. I did talk to Jarrad Davis briefly before I committed, but I really didn’t talk to them too much. They were out the door as I was headed in. It’s great that I could follow behind them at Florida and I’m kind of behind them too in Detroit.”On the impact of playing for Deion Sanders in college and Pat Surtain in high school: “I feel like it was really huge, me having two NFL players as coaches, head coaches at that. So, just coaches that understand the game, understand the game from a player’s perspective. I just feel like that kind of gave me an advantage, I feel like, to kind of understand how to be a professional and how to handle yourself and how to go about your business, especially on the football field.”On what it was like playing for Deion Sanders: “Yeah, I mean it’s great. I feel like Coach Prime is really one of the greatest coaches in college football right now. He’s doing a great job at these HBCUs. He’s changed the whole narrative of everything being written about college football. Having him around is just great. Every day, he’s just the biggest motivator and he’s going to get everything that he needs out of you. It was a real blessing just to be coached by him just for a year. I learned so many instrumental things that I’m going to take with me to my professional career.”On what position he views himself playing in the NFL: “I view myself as a football player. I feel like I can play a variety of positions. I know I can play off the ball, I can play on the ball. I haven’t had too many looks at it, but I know I can go back there and play fullback. Really, whatever the team needs, that’s really my thing. Whatever the team needs, I’ll be happy to do whatever it takes to make the team and progress the team and make us better.” LIONS SEVENTH-ROUND DRAFT SELECTION (237TH OVERALL) CB CHASE LUCAS NFL DRAFT DAY 3 QUOTE SHEETOn how his experience as a five-year college starter can translate to the NFL: “A lot. I feel like my experience is going to help me, especially in the NFL and especially because I was coached by NFL coaches like Marvin Lewis, Herm Edwards. I’ve been around pro guys. I’ve been around pro coaches. I feel like their competitive nature at the Detroit Lions is going to fit my type of style of how I am, how I play. I feel like just my experience alone probably even got me drafted. I’m just excited. I’m happy and just thankful for this opportunity.”On how much his technique sharpened under the tutelage of former NFL players being his coaches: “It was definitely—I played running back in high school, and when I came to college, I just decided to switch my position because of my body frame and stuff like that. Just having them come in and try to critique the little things I was doing wrong, whether it was shadowing with the wrong hand or moving with the wrong foot, I feel like that just progressed 10 times, tenfold over the last three, four years. Especially because we kept adding new coaches like Chris Hawkins from SC (University of Southern California) who kind of just taught me to be my own man and play my own technique. I feel like when they came, they kind of sharpened the edges where I needed to sharpen. I feel like it made me better as a whole, as a player and as a person, everything.”On how much slot-nickel corner he played in college and if he is comfortable playing it in the NFL: “I’m very, very comfortable. I’ve been playing nickel for the last two years. The 2020 season only having four games, that was when I was really getting introduced to it because if one player went down, somebody had to move in and fill the spot. I feel very comfortable. I feel like my football IQ is a big thing, a big reason why I was drafted. I feel like I do a lot of studying and a lot of film work. I feel like that’s going to translate to the nickel spot and hopefully to the rest of my career.”On if his greatest strength as a player is his football IQ: “If that’s not my biggest strength, it would be just a competitor. I’m very competitive. I love to win everything. I hate losing more than I love winning. That’s just kind of how I am. My football IQ just came from my coaches. Just being up, always having a pen and paper with you, just always trying to take notes and trying to learn something new every day, that’s the kind of mindset I’m going to take to the team and hopefully, it’ll rub off on others.”On what the Draft process has been like and the feeling of getting the phone call that he has been drafted: “Man, it’s been a rough couple of months, but it was a rough couple of three hours today. It was very, very hard to just be patient and just trust what God has in front of me. But honestly, I was getting a whole bunch of calls about priority free agency and stuff like that, so my phone was going off. I didn’t even know what pick it was. I just saw Detroit, Michigan, so I just thought the Lions were calling me for free agency. I just ended up getting that beautiful news I’ve always wanted to hear. I’ve waited 25 years for it. I’m very pumped up. I’m very excited, but I’m also ready to work. I know they’re going to get a good corner, a good nickel, a good safety, whatever they need of me out of this.”On if he had any good battles at Arizona State going against Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown when he was at USC: “Yeah, there has been a lot of battles between him, definitely (Falcons WR) Drake London a couple of times. I’m excited to work with him. I’m excited to actually be on the team with Amon-Ra and the whole team. Especially (Lions CB) Jeff Okudah, just to have him be up there and learn from him. I was actually trained by the same coach he was trained by. I feel like I’m going to mesh in well. I know that they love to compete. That’s what I’m here to do.” LIONS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER BRAD HOLMES DRAFT DAY 3 QUOTE SHEETOpening Statement: “We definitely felt like we got better as an organization this week. We got eight guys that we’re really, really excited about that we believe can help us going forward. We always talk about the future and down the road, but if it’s not just for competition and depth, but we feel really, really good. We’re excited as an organization, as a team. We just feel the really good thing is about all these guys that we got (is) they all have different flavors. They’re not all cut out of the same box. Every single guy has their own unique plight and style and, like I say, flavor. We feel really, really good about that. Obviously, I know it was more so on the defensive side of the ball, but we’re excited about each one of them.”On the value of having a year of experience with this team to build upon the roster: “Yeah, that’s a great question. One of the biggest things I think is everybody kind of knowing the system and everybody knowing how to use the same language when it comes to evaluations. And then, also with your reference to not being on Zoom and all that and being around guys, sometimes you can just feel them a little bit more. You can feel their body language. You can kind of feel their presence of how they truly feel about one thing or the other. So, I think that meant a lot. Also, I do say the continuity just with our coaching staff, I think that was huge. Even when we made a tweak here or there, everything is about collaboration. We always kind of overcommunicate that on all accounts. Definitely, that’s a great point you brought up that it was a lot better this year.”On drafting players from HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) like sixth-round draft selection (217th overall) OLB James Houston: “I didn’t know a lot about James as we were kind of growing through the fall process. Then kind of when he hit the all-star circuit and made some noise there and then he kind of went on so forth, and then throughout the process, his name just kept coming up and coming up. The scouts had a lot of buy-in on this player. Then, it got to the OTT guys and then our Director (of College Scouting) Dave Sears, our college director, he had a lot of passion about his evaluation and what he thought his potential could be. The more I looked at it and I looked at his production and what he’s done in the past—he’s got really long arms, he’s explosive. Obviously, he’s done some different things from an off-ball position at the University of Florida, and then obviously the sack production at Jackson State that he had last year speaks for itself. We’re really excited. I always say I know that when it comes from an HBCU perspective, I know a lot was made of it in the past especially last year about none being selected. I was very happy to see even before we took James the others selected, the Fayetteville State kid and the South Carolina State kid. It was good to see progress made on that front. My mom gives me crap about it all the time saying, ‘Why aren’t you drafting any HBCU players?’ But I’ve always said about that, too, they have to control what they have to control too. They don’t get drafted just because they’re at an HBCU. They have to earn it. These kids earned it. Last year, it just wasn’t that caliber process. It was a great run for HBCU players for a long time when you had the Darius Leonard’s and Tarik Cohen’s and Brandon Parker’s, and then it kind of took a little dip there with COVID. It’s good to see that we’re making a lot better progress now.”On where he sees the defensive players they drafted fitting into next year’s scheme: “The first thing before we even kind of look into the part of the schematic specifics, we want to see how well these guys can help on special teams first, especially when you get into guys on Day 3. I do think that Malcolm (Rodriguez), he can play our inside linebacker spot. He’s a high-caliber special teams player, first and foremost. But I do think that he’ll be able to come in and compete at one of the inside linebacker spots. Actually, even down to Chase Lucas at corner. You see what he can contribute on special teams, then you talk about from a versatility standpoint I think Chase Lucas can play outside. I think he can play inside. Obviously, we talked about James Houston, which I think his versatility about the ability to rush, the ability to play off the ball. Obviously, he’s had special teams production back when he was at the University of Florida. We think that all those guys can help on special teams and have versatility.”On what the defensive-sided draft class says about his faith in the offense and Lions QB Jared Goff: “Yeah, obviously we talked about Jared at length all spring. We think that he’s a quarterback we can win with. Obviously, we’ve made some additions on the outside starting with free agency. We obviously did some things in the Draft, but we felt pretty good about our offensive line. We didn’t go into the Draft saying that we’d ignore it. Obviously, we were happy that we were able to add a guy like James Mitchell when he gets healthy. He was another guy that had a lot of conviction throughout the building. It’s really no specific—we’re not going in saying, ‘Don’t draft offense.’ We’re never going to pass up good football players. If the best player on the board is an offensive guard, you’re not just going to go past that guard and get a lesser player just because he’s a defensive tackle or he’s a safety. It just happens it lined up that way. I’m happy and everybody’s excited about it.”On if there is a ‘no excuses’ mentality surrounding Lions QB Jared Goff in 2022 with the added pieces to the offense this offseason: “I don’t want to say, ‘No excuses,’ but I do think the more weapons and the better resources that you surround your quarterback with is just better and it helps them out more. You could say that for any quarterback. He will obviously have more coming into this year. I really admire and appreciate what he did with what he worked with last year. I wouldn’t say it’s no excuses, but we just expect him to be set up for success, which (Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) and I said we were going to do for Jared.”On if they loaded up the defense the way they planned to pre-Draft: “It wasn’t—we knew that we had, if you could say more questions in terms of depth on the defensive side of the ball, maybe even some questions above that. Again, we don’t go into it anchored and saying, ‘Hey, look, man, we have to just draft defense.’ If that’s the best player, then that’s the best player. We had a sense that with all the things that we wanted to do we had a sense that it might tilt a little toward defense. But we didn’t think if we had eight picks, if it was four offensive, we’d have four defensive guys. If that’s how it fell, that’s how it fell. When I looked up, I didn’t even count until we drafted Chase (Lucas). I looked up and was like, ‘Oh, we were two out of eight.’ Again, that’s just how we roll. We just want to get the best player. We don’t want to be anchored to it, but we’re happy with how it turned out.”On balancing athleticism versus being a prototypical build at a certain position: “Well, it’s a lot of factors that you can look at. There are a lot of variables that play into that. If a guy is a little bit more deficient in one area, say it’s height or it’s bulk or arm length, what does he compensate in other areas? Does his explosiveness compensate for what he might be deficient of in this area? Does his motor compensate? Do his instincts compensate for lack of somewhat of foot speed here or there? We kind of look at everything. We look at all those factors. There are some guys that have all the size in the world, and they’re not very good football players. They might have all the height, speed in the world and they’re not good football players. You’ve got to weigh it all. There are a lot of factors that weigh into it, but at the end of the day we’re just trying to stick to finding football players and I think that’s what we found today.”On if the modern NFL game requires his players that he acquires to be versatile: “I do think there’s sometimes – well, not sometimes, there are a lot of times that I remember Dan (Campbell) and myself, we’re trying to construct a roster during a week during the season. Sometimes you do get a second where, ‘This guy can do this, and kind of this only. This guy, well, he can play this spot and that spot,’ so that opens up some flexibility. When you have those guys that are versatile, that does give you some flexibility from a roster standpoint, and hopefully, if these players develop – again, we’re just talking about rookies. Going forward, if these guys develop into what we think they can be, I think it will offer up a lot of roster flexibility for us going forward.”On the communication with TE James Mitchell during the pre-Draft process and if the Lions deemed him as one of the few remaining draftable players: “James was on our draft board as a draftable player. He always was. It was unfortunate that he had his injury, but when the scouts start calling peoples’ agents, they’re calling in the later rounds and that can happen. They don’t always know exactly what’s going to happen or unfold. We try to do the best that we can from a communication standpoint. We made a lot of improvements with that this past year, but James Mitchell was always a draftable prospect for us. He was on our board, and we felt good about taking him.”On if he feels that the roster has any major holes entering the offseason program: “You made a great point; it’s never really complete. Obviously, there are more windows to add players; the season doesn’t start until September. But I will say on both sides of the ball, especially from a depth standpoint, there’s still areas where we can still add and we’ll definitely look to do that for sure.”On how active he plans on being with the undrafted free agent cycle: “It’s fuller than it was last year a little bit, which is a good thing. We are active. We might not be able to sign as many as we were able to sign last year, but again, that’s a good problem to have. You just have to be a little bit more strategic and selective, which we have a really good college free agency process, a very collaborative process. We put a lot of work into that process, so we feel good about it. We’ve just got to sign a little bit less guys.”On if the team can offer more money to undrafted free agents since there are fewer to sign: “It’s case-by-case. It depends on the position. There’s actually a few different factors that go into that. Obviously, if you’re signing with us, you might have a little more at your disposal there.”On if it is a coincidence that a lot of his draft picks have similar traits, such as being team captains: “We look into the intangibles. We heavily scrutinize the intangibles of every football player and their football character, as we’ve talked about in the past. You guys have heard me say it at length and I’ll always believe this until the day I die, is that how much passion and how high your football character is and what your desire is for this game, that’s going to dictate your success. You can have all the height, weight, speed in the world and all the physical traits, but if the game doesn’t mean everything to you and you don’t have a high football character and your intangibles aren’t up to standards, then it’s going to be hard for you to find success in this league. This league is very hard. It’s hard to win games and it’s because the talent level – it’s not hard to find a height, weight, speed here and there. But to find the football players that have those things – it’s really important to us and that’s why you see a lot of that with those guys we take.”On how he handles a gray area where a player may be talented but lack a great football character: “You’ll still walk across that. You’ll still have to make those decisions every now and then, but we have a good vetting process where if certain guys don’t meet certain standards, certain thresholds, then they may be in or out of consideration. We trust our process and we tackle those case-by-case.”On if he found that more players sensed what the organization was about after having a season under his belt: “Yeah, it was. It was very noticeable, and it was a good feeling to experience because last year, again, we’re just scrambling, trying to get guys, get guys in. And actually, starting in free agency, you start hearing guys wanting to come to Detroit, and that buzz and the word is getting out amongst their peers with other teams, that felt really good to hear. But then, these college kids, they work out at these facilities with our pro athletes. So, not sure if the buzz is coming from there, but it did feel good this time of year, the process, that a lot of kids and their agents did want to send their players here because they hear what our culture is. I say it all the time, we don’t have to sell our culture. We don’t have to do a pitch or anything, just ask the players that have been in the building. They can sell it for us.”On if the Draft process was easier or harder after having one Draft under his belt: “You know, today felt longer than it did last year. Yeah, it did. But I want to say – was it the night before last – I got home about 2:30am and then I got up around like 6:00am, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to go back to sleep,’ and I just couldn’t. You’re just wired, but that’s what you really appreciate, that’s what you really expect. That’s how you know that it’s running through your veins, man. The last thing I was thinking about was going back to sleep. I was just thinking about what we did the night before, what we’re about to do today. That’s how you know that you’re not only with the right people, but you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”On how important it was to experience a hectic undrafted rookie free agent process last year and fine-tune things for this Draft: “We have an entire taskforce for that, and those guys work very, very hard at evolving our process from the UDFA standpoint. I do think there’ll be organized chaos at all times, that’s just a little bit part of the tradition and the history of that process. But we had it much more streamlined this year and I really appreciate all those guys’ hard work to evolve and they’re using a lot more technology and then improving the communication of the whole process. Hopefully – I don’t know who we all signed – hopefully I get some good news when I get back upstairs. So, hopefully, it worked.” |
